April 1 (Reuters) - Most Southeast Asian stock markets fell
on Friday, as concerns over global economic outlook dented
sentiment after S&P cut its credit outlook for China, and on a
gloomy survey of Japanese manufacturing.
Singapore's Straits Times Index was down 0.7 percent,
after hitting its lowest level since March 11, while Thailand's
SET Index traded 0.8 percent weaker, and the Philippines
was down 0.5 percent.
"At the moment, there are so many concerns over the major
economies, especially China and the U.S. So the buying spree has
trimmed and some are taking profits," said Teerada
Charnyingyong, an analyst with Phillip Capital in Bangkok.
U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's speech on Tuesday
gave some cues about the pace of future interest rate hikes, but
it failed to sustain the gains.
A downward revision of China's sovereign credit rating also
weighed on sentiment. S&P cut its outlook for China's sovereign
credit rating on Thursday to "negative" from "stable", though it
maintained the rating at AA-minus.
A deterioration in the business sentiment among Japan's big
manufacturers, which hit its lowest in nearly three years also
hurt the market.
Malaysia lost 0.4 percent and Indonesia's Jakarta
Composite Index fell 0.2 percent.
Bucking the trend, Vietnam's benchmark VN Index was
up 0.3 percent by midday, after hitting a one-month low in the
previous session, with gains in blue chips offsetting losses in
most shares.
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SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS
Change at 0524 GMT
Market Current Prev Close Pct Move
Singapore 2821.61 2840.90 -0.68
Kuala Lumpur 1710.72 1717.58 -0.40
Bangkok 1396.88 1407.70 -0.77
Jakarta 4835.29 4845.37 -0.21
Manila 7224.59 7262.30 -0.52
Ho Chi Minh 562.61 561.22 +0.25
(Reporting by Shihar Aneez; Editing by Anand Basu)